1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of home improvement, and more specifically to devices and methods for assisting the attachment of items on walls, such as pictures, tiles, and so on.
2. Description of the Related Art
When people attach items on the wall, such as pictures, tiles, etc., they try to place them so that they are level, and/or aligned with each other. A device recently introduced to facilitate such attaching is now described.
FIG. 1 shows a laser device 60 that can output a visible laser beam 62. Device 60 is usually provided with means such as adhesive tape (not shown), for attachment to the wall. The attachment means must be strong enough to support laser device 60 on the wall, without otherwise support for its weight from underneath.
Device 60 also includes two embedded levels, a vertical level 64, and a horizontal level 66. Levels 64 and 66 are used for leveling device 60, when attaching it on the wall. This way, beam 62 can also be aligned along the vertical or the horizontal.
When device 60 is so attached to a wall, beam 62 is substantially parallel to the wall, and is also called a wall laser beam. Being aligned along the vertical or the horizontal, beam 62 therefore provides a reference for aligning an item on the wall.
Attempts have been made to reduce the weight of device 60. Their effectiveness is limited by the fact that device 60 needs to include a battery.
A problem arises when it is desired to obtain multiple wall laser beams, such as for attaching multiple items on the wall. In one instance, all beams need to be present concurrently, for example for forming a pattern. In that case, a different light source must be used for each wall laser beam of the grid, and such light sources are expensive. In another instance, not all beams need to be present concurrently. An example is now described.
FIG. 2 shows how laser device 60 is to be used on a wall 80 for placing tiles 82. Laser 60 must be successively placed at, and then removed from, from multiple places 68. This way beam 62 each time provides a level reference for each new row of tiles 82. Multiple attaching and detaching wears out the attachment means, which can cause laser device 60 to drift while attached.